But just as they continue to hope for continuous showers, growers of some crops are hoping that Mother Nature won’t try to make up for the lack of rain in late spring.

Such is the tricky timing created by rain later in the season.

At the Van Vleck Ranch in Rancho Murieta, the rain is warding off an even more dire fate than what the ranch has already faced this year.

The ranch sold more than two-thirds of its herd earlier in the season, but the little rain that fell in January was enough to keep it from selling the few hundred that remain, manager Jerry Spencer said.

“The recent storms have given us hope that we’ll be able to keep what we have left, so there won’t be a complete, total liquidation,” Spencer said.

The storms last week and earlier in February have created green hills where cattle are grazing for the first time all season. Before now, they were grazing on hay that eventually ran out, Spencer said.

A few miles away, at the Davis Ranch store in Sloughhouse, manager Jim Ayers said he and his staff are also grateful for rain, but they're hoping there won’t be heavy rain in late spring, which could damage the ranch’s famous corn crop and asparagus crop.

Some of the produce sold is brought in from other parts of the state, and the ranch is seeing those prices go up.

“People have already been balking about the prices of produce, and so have we,” Ayers said. “It’s more expensive now.”

APPEARED THAN SNOW. THE SNOW LEVELS ARE ACTUALLY PRETTY HIGH. WHILE SOME PEOPLE ARE PRAYING FOR RAIN, OTHERS ARE PRAYING IT WILL STOP BEFORE HE GETS TO BE LATE IN THE SEASON. WHY SPRING RAIN COMES WITH ITS TRICKY TIMING NO MATTER HOW MUCH WE MIGHT NEED IT. CONTINUE A STRONG RAIN AT THIS POINT. RESERVOIR LEVELS THAT WILL CERTAINLY MAKE CATTLE RANCHES NICE AND GREEN. IT IS NOT THE BEST THING FOR SOME CROPS. FOR SO LITTLE RAIN WILL NOT STOP PRODUCE PRICES FROM GOING UP EITHER. DAVIS RANCH CELLS PRODUCE AT ITS FARMERS MARKET. SOME OF THIS GROSS HERE AND OTHERS RUNNING FROM PARTS OF THE STATE. AND MAYBE SUMMER BEFORE WE FEEL THE FULL EFFECT OF THE DROUGHT. PRESS -- PRICE INCREASES HAVE STARTED. THEY MAY BE AFFECTING THE TINIEST OF VENDORS. SHE USES VEGETABLES AND SOME OF THE FOODS SHE USE -- CELLS THAT OF THE SKIRT. I DO NOT THINK THAT IS GOING TO BE A GOOD IDEA FOR THE CART. RAIN AND SNOW ARE WELCOME. IT IS NOT LIKELY THIS WILL MAKE THIS CLOSE TO AVERAGE FOR CALIFORNIA. ACCORDING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES THERE ARE EIGHT INCHES OF WATER IN THE SIERRA SNOWPACK. 31% OF NORMAL. WE WOULD NEED 20 MORE INCHES JUST IN THE NEXT FOUR WEEKS TO REACH THE APRIL 1 AVERAGE. NO FORECASTERS SAYING WE'RE GOING TO GET ANYWHERE NEAR THAT. THAT IS WHAT IT WOULD TAKE. WEEKS OF RAIN, HEAVY RAIN TO MY AND SO TO BRING US BACK TO NORMAL. RAIN BE ON THAT POINT COULD POST TRICKY TIMING FOR CROPS LIKE ASPARAGUS AND CORN. IF YOU GET LATER IN THE SPRING WHEN THE CORN STARTS TO COME UP, IT CAN WIPE OUT THE CORN. THERE ARE SOME RANCHERS WHO ARE HOPING FOR CONTINUOUS RAIN AS LONG AS THE SEASON LASTS TONIGHT TRADE WE WILL SHOW YOU THE ONE PLACE WHERE EVEN A LITTLE BIT OF RAIN HAS POSSIBLY THE BIGGEST IMPACT.